Maria's Drawings
by That One Artsy Kid
Summary: Optimus is having some second thoughts about humans. Little does a certain mechanic know that she isn't just helping him with his paint job.


Fifteen. Fifteen different alt modes I have to scan today to get rid of screaming fans. After the Robot Revolution took place, the government got tired of funding us, so they let us release ourselves to the public. Plus, with all the Decepticon attacks lately, Sam decided that I should have myself 'fixed up' as he said. He had given me a number and address for a friend that he brought Bumblebee to for tune-ups and paint jobs. It was late, but the girl over the phone had said that it was the only time she had to give me a paint job. Starscream's words from our latest battle still rang in my head.

"Why do you protect these humans anyway? What have they done for you?"

I had replied, "Humans have their way of showing kindness to our race. They have much to learn, but were we so different?"

But lately, all of the things that humans have done have just ended up in as a problem. The screaming crowds of fans caused exhaustion in most of our ranks. Even Ironhide had complained that he would rather have faced Megatron by himself than deal with all of the crowds for the rest of his life.

I sigh, and exhaust pours out of my smoke stacks. Maybe the stress was getting to me, but I couldn't help but wonder. I pull into the driveway. I had to admit, my paint does need some attention. I wonder if the girl is home. The lights are all out. Then I notice the garage light on. I pull up into the garage and activate my holoform so that maybe the mechanic will mistake me for a fan that painted his truck to match me. Sam had said that the place was private owned, but I hadn't imagined it to be at a human's home instead of at a business lot. I open my door and my holoform steps out. A young teenage girl is sitting on a stool, holding a sketchpad and a pencil, concentrating on her inscriptions. I clear my throat. The girl looks up. She offers me a smile, which I return.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Banks. I was wondering when you would show. I'm Maria Lopez." Maria swiped her brown hair out of her face, revealing matching brown optic or eye, as humans say.

"Yes, but you can call me Primus." The name I used when I activated my holoform was Primus Banks, Sam's idea.

"Thanks Primus, now lets see what you paint job looks like." Maria set down her notebook and slid off her seat clumsily which made her stool and other things around it fall. I ran forward and help her pick up her things.

"Sorry about that. I have my clumsy moments, don't worry, I won't mess up your trailer." Maria quickly apologized. I reached for her notebook, when I picked it up, it opened to an often-used page. I stared at the image before me. It was a detailed drawing of…me. It had my head down to my waist. My face looked done with may details even down to the gears on the side of my head. My hands looked like they were in battle stance with one that sprouted my steaming cannon. Even my paint was detailed enough to look scratched and faded.

"You made this?" I ask not taking my eyes off of the picture.

"Yeah, I'm not done, but I have done the small yellow one, I think his name is Bumblebee, and the Black Topkick, I can't remember his name. I've also done the medic, what's his name Hatchet? No, it's Ratchet."

"Do you mind if I take a look?"

Maria shook her head. "Not at all."

I flipped to the beginning of the notebook. It was a rather clumsy sketch of Bumblebee in alt mode. His headlights were a little unpreportionate and his stripes were too thin. I flipped a couple more pages, the final copy of Bumblebee with his alt mode at his feet. Bumblebee optics was just the right shade blue, giving him an overjoyed look. His door wings were sagging in a relaxed position and music note floated in the air around him. His paint looked perfect and unscratched, almost gleaming like right after he had a wax. I smile at the memory of Bumblebee's first wax; his engines had purred the entire time. I change the page and there is Bumblebee in his fight mode. His cannon was launching a projectile and his battle mask was down, his wings were also stiff and upright, unlike their relaxed position in the last picture.

I turned the next page, which was another sketch, only this time of Ironhide. I turned the pages to the final copy. Iron hide had his cannons out uncharged but and was rubbing them with pleasure with his cleaning cloth the Mikaela had given him. His black armor looked unscratched but it was splattered with caked mud. His face had a small satisfactory grin on it as he smoothed and petted his cannons. The next page had Ironhide shooting missiles at multiple Deceptions. His cannons had a significantly brighter blue glow, making them look more powerful and advanced. His face looked annoyed like he didn't have time for this attacker. It was rather funny how much it reflected him.

The next couple page also were sketches, many of them with a big X through the picture. I frown. Most of them were very good. Finally Maria seemed to become satisfied with a sketch. My holoform turns the page; it was a picture of Ratchet. He was bending over Ironhide, who looked very irritated. Ratchet had a concentrated frown on his face. In his hand were various tools and data pads that were connected to Ironhide through wires and such. In his other hand were searching for another tool on the table next to the one Ironhide was lying on. The next picture of Ratchet had his canons out, which were significantly smaller, due to the fact that he was built for healing, not for fighting. He was not using his cannons, just had them out for self defense in battle, he was crouched over a fallen soldier. His hands seemed to be caressing the soldiers wounds and was dressing the human soldier's wounds as carefully as he could, because of his much larger fingers.

I turned the page. The next picture seemed much more detailed than the others. It had two silhouettes, one male and one female. Sam and Mikaela I presume. I was kneeling to their height in front of them. My optics were a bight electric blue and my hand was draped across my knee. My face gave off a feel of dignity. Do I really look like that? I tilt my head a little. My paint was reflecting the light majestically and I had a concerned frown on my face. The next page is the one I had seen first. I flip through the other pages. All of them are of the Autobots. The occasional picture of us in alt mode, but all of them has my team in it. Most of them get better the deeper I get into the notebook. She had even redone some of the picture in the beginning of Bumblebee and Ironhide.

"You like them?" Maria's big brown eyes search mine for approval.

"Yes, they are very thorough to say the least. How did you get all of the small little details?" I ask; I surprise myself at the wonder that seeps through my words.

"I save different picture from newspapers and magazines. Sometimes I can take pictures of them on my phone." Maria had turned back to her work; I could feel her spraying the paint onto my body. I resist the urge to shudder at the touch. I nod. I continue to look at her drawings while she paints my body. Soon the teen in finished and pulls off the protective paper on my body that stencils in my flames. She gives me a smile.

"All done, hope you like your paint job…Optimus."

I gawk, how did she…?

"It wasn't that hard, between the scratched metal and the faded paint, I figured it out."

I shake my holoform's head and give her a curt nod before thanking her. I let my holoform disappear and pull out of the garage. I sit in her driveway for a while, processing. Why hadn't she 'freaked out', as Sam would say. She obviously was a big fan, determining by her pictures. Why hadn't she fawned over me like all of the other fan-girls I have met? I slowly pull out of her driveway, when I see the light to a room on; I stop and peer in, still in my alt mode. Maria is singing to some kind of music that I have heard Bumblebee play for Sam on multiple occasions. She is dancing and singing along with the song, just having some fun after her hard work.

_I gotta feeling_

_That tonight`s gonna be a good night_

 _That tonight`s gonna be a good night _

_That tonight`s gonna be a good good night _

_That tonight`s gonna be a good good night_

_That tonight`s gonna be a good good night_

_Tonight`s the night night_

 _Let`s live it up I got my money _

_Let`s spend it up_

_Go out and smash it_

 _Like oh my god_

 _Jump off that sofa_

 _Let`s get get off_

_I know that we`ll have a ball_

 _If we get down_

 _And go out_

 _And just loose it all_

_I feel stressed out_

 _I wanna let it go_

 _Lets go way out spaced out_

 _And loosing all control_

_Fill up my cup_

 _Mozoltov _

_Look at her dancing_

 _Just take it off_

_Lets paint the town_

 _We`ll shut it down_

 _Let`s burn the roof _

_And then we'll do it again_

_Lets do it _

_Lets do it _

_Lets do it _

_Lets do it_

 _And live it up_

_I gotta feeling_

_That tonight`s gonna be a good night _

_That tonight`s gonna be a good night_

_That tonight`s gonna be a good good night_

_That tonight`s gonna be a good good night_

_Tonight`s the night _

_Let`s live it up_

 _I got my money _

_Lets spend it up_

_Go out and smash it _

_Like oh my god_

 _Jump off that sofa_

 _Lets get get off_

_Fill up my cup_

 _Mozolotov_

 _Look at her dancing_

 _Just take it off_

_Lets paint the town _

_We'll shut it down_

 _Lets burn the roof _

_And then we'll do it again_

_Lets do it_

_Lets do it _

_Lets do it _

_Lets do it_

 _Let`s live it up_

_Here we come_

 _Here we go _

_We gotta rock_

_Easy come _

_Easy go_

 _Now we on top_

_Feel the shot _

_Body rock_

 _Rock it don't stop_

_Round and round_

_Up and down_

_Around the clock_

I sit through the whole song and watch her sing and dance. This is the reason why we are protecting the humans. They are so innocent; they do not deserve the punishment of our war. They can be insensitive and rude, but so were we. Every time we find fault in their race, I always manage to find one person that is different from the rest. Someone a bit more respectful, a bit more caring, a bit more loving. If there is at least one of those kinds of people, isn't it worth fighting for them? Maria looks out her window and smiles at me. She waves through the window and I transform to get to her height, her being on the second floor. She watched my transformation with awe. I finally get to my bipedal form and I am careful to watch where I step, thinking back to Sam's backyard when we were looking for the glasses.

"Thank you for your kindness Maria," I smile. "It has given me much to think about. If you like, I could have the others come over when they need a tune up that Ratchet is not able to perform, if you'd like."

Maria grins. "I'd like that."

"Thank you once again Maria, and goodbye, I hope to cross paths with you once more. By the way, those were very good pictures." I transform to my trailer mode and drive off, not knowing that in the depths of Maria's room that she began to revise her picture of me with Sam and Mikaela. She erased my concerned frown, and replaced it with a warm fatherly smile.


End file.
